Singh: Rovers' new boss not close

A decision on the identity of Blackburn Rovers' new manager will not be taken until next week at the earliest, according to the club's global advisor, Shebby Singh.

A number of top names have been linked to the post and, although Singh claims there is a process in place, it won't be acted upon until after this Saturday's home game against Wolves.

Singh told ESPN: "Despite what is being said and written about, nothing official has emerged from the club in terms of who we want as manager.

"We have a big game on Saturday, we have Eric Black in charge and then after that game we shall sit down and decide what to do about the manager. That is not to say we don't have a plan, we do, but next week is time to sort out where we go with it."

Blackburn have been linked with former Sunderland boss Roy Keane, who has been offered a three-year contract worth £3.9 million to manage in Turkey. But Singh insists the club will not speculate on their shortlist of candidates.

"We have not spoken to anyone directly and all matters such as this are sensitive so there will be no comment from the club," he said.

Bernd Schuster, formerly of Real Madrid, has applied for the position, while Tim Sherwood remains the No. 1 choice but all overtures to Spurs have been rejected by chairman Daniel Levy so far.

Alan Shearer is another former Blackburn icon who would be welcome back as manager, while former England boss Glenn Hoddle could also be in the frame if he could be persuaded back into football management. Nottingham Forest tried and failed, but Hoddle might be tempted back for the right project.

Former Manchester United striker Henrik Larsson is tempted, and Paulo Sousa is also in the frame, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not.

Singh also stressed that a new manager would be welcome at Ewood Park without any interference over team selection and tactics.

Kean was ousted with allegations flying around of meddling from Singh, but he has assured candidates that this is not the case: "Over the last few days I have been pleasantly surprised by the calibre of people who want to become Blackburn Rovers manager - despite the fact it has been portrayed as the last place any manager would want to come to.

"People will believe what they want to believe, but we had a manager here and he was picking the team - we have Eric Black in charge of the team and he is picking the team and the tactics. All along we have given the manager all the support that we can. We have always given our support to the man in charge of the team despite what people have been saying."